Dear Families and Friends,
As we close out this historic year, we are thankful for God’s abundant and abiding love and grace for this ministry and the transformative impact it has had on thousands of children and youth throughout its 70-year-history.
We are especially grateful that we were able to operate eight weeks of residential summer camp at Don Lee and three additional weeks of residential camp, “Don Lee at Rockfish,” all without a known incidence of the virus in campers or staff this past summer. This success is due to the combined diligence of parents, campers and staff to ensure protocols and policies regarding Covid-19 were followed, all while asking for God’s protection and provision over the ministry.
While no one can predict the future, we can make educated decisions based on the information available to us regarding Covid-19 and progress on treatments and vaccines. Guided by this information, prayer and our summer experience, our team has prepared a summer camp schedule that lengthens the season, allowing more campers to participate this year while following safety protocols and cleaning procedures implemented in Summer 2020.
There are many lessons in the pandemic and one is abundantly clear for us: at this time, smaller is better. We will continue with our traditional small group camping model, operate at a reduced capacity each week and keep our cleaning and safety protocols in place for Summer 2021.
Our offerings begin with one week Early Camp sessions, May 16 - June 5, for elementary and middle school students at Camp Don Lee. We realize some may still need to participate in virtual or in person learning and we will work with families closer to the camp session to determine what requirements are needed, if any, while at camp. Early Camp offers the opportunity for younger campers to have traditional sessions at Don Lee.
We also will offer four, one-week sessions of Don Lee at Camp Rockfish (June 13-July 2) for elementary and middle school students. This is a return of our wildly popular camp born out of necessity last summer that was such a blessing to all who participated! Don Lee staffers lead Don Lee residential campers at our beautiful sister camp, Rockfish, located just outside of Fayetteville. Rockfish features more than 30 fun camper activities, many of which we do not offer at Don Lee.
At Don Lee we will begin our multi-week programs on June 13, running at reduced capacity and prioritizing older campers. There are some one week specialty camps offered Week 5, but all other sessions are two weeks or more.
Clearly, we are offering a variety of options to allow families to have choices on dates and locations for camp that will work best for them. Should virus conditions drastically improve and allow us to offer more sessions at Don Lee, we will prioritize campers in the order they were registered for whatever session they enrolled. So, register early.
Summer 2020 was a special blessing to campers and staff, no matter where they had the opportunity to attend, as we had the chance to be together to share the love of Jesus Christ, make new friends and try new experiences. For more information on Covid-19 policies and procedures that kept us safe, please see our website.
Camp Don Lee is fully accredited by the American Camp Association and in 2018 was voted best sleep away camp by the readers of Wilmington Parent Magazine. In 2016, camp was recognized as a “Summer Camp that Changes the World,” by the Center for Faith and Service, McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. It includes camps across the country that,“embody the joy, hope and power of the summer camp experience.”
If you complete your registration by December 16, 2020, we will send you a free gift to put under the tree for your camper (shipping cost $5). The camp experience makes a great gift!
The ministry of Camp Don Lee has touched thousands of lives over its many years. Come join us and experience “a place God has blessed.”
Grace and peace,
Don Lee Camp & Retreat Center
Camp Registration Begins Online at 4:00pm Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 and will continue throughout the winter and spring. We have programs for children completed first grade to age 17.